Day 3287 (Monday) 8th June 2026

Both of these photos were taken in Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Here are some more unusual French foods, these dishes are bit yucky but there are worse to come tomorrow.

4. Foie Gras (fwah-GRAH)

This staple of France food culture is the one that is probably most controversial, banned in some parts of the world (and increasingly, in corners of France itself): geese are force-fed to fatten their livers (foie gras actually means fatty liver), a practice that involves cruelty to animals.

Here we're only coming around to that kind of thinking but foie gras is such a popular food in France that eliminating it is almost unthinkable, at least for now.

Foie gras is incredibly popular, one of our most special French foods, and 93% of us eat it several times a year. It has been around as long as geese and ducks have been domesticated, their fat providing human consumption all year round. 

In the beginning, our ancestors in the Middle East acquired a taste for natural foie gras, the kind the animals produced themselves and which they ate along with the rest of the goose or duck (both are popular). We can thank the Egyptians for discovering that geese gorged themselves before migration: they naturally produced foie gras to store fat for their long trip.

Eventually, these animals were domesticated and the Egyptians developed the art of fattening. This was built upon by the Greeks, Hebrews and, eventually, the inhabitants of Eastern Europe.

By the 17th century, the population of rural France was expanding quickly and in the southwest, geese and ducks increasingly became part of a household's wealth, hence the growth of the foie gras industry in this region (and in the East, too).

By the 19th century, villages were vying for the 'best foie gras' labels and markets began to specialise in this delicacy; some hugely reputable ones exist today: Brive, Périgueux and Sarlat, to mention just a few.

As thinking evolves and people become more conscious of animal welfare, farmers are looking for solutions because let's face it, asking the French to give up foie gras would probably be as successful as asking Germans to give up beer.

Several new methods have been developed that deliver foie gras without force feeding, but they remain experimental and expensive: a goose that is not force fed will need to be raised twice as long. Also, this alternative process means they cannot use the 'foie gras' label, which requires force feeding.

The challenge lies in finding these products, which remain rare. As for the price, until the new methods become mainstream, they will stay high. No matter. We'll just have to seriously cut back our foie gras consumption. Or eliminate it altogether. I'll be hunting for that alternative...

5. Steak Tartare (steak tar-TAR)

There are so many jokes about tourists sending back their Steak Tartare because it was raw.

But this most delightful of French entrées is supposed to be raw: that's what Steak Tartare is, raw ground beef, flavoured with a variety of additional seasonings (a selection of chopped onions, capers, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, a raw egg, salt, pepper...) Especially in summer, this is one of those France delicacies many of us can't go without.

Clearly the most important factor here is freshness (and meat quality, but that goes without saying). I would never buy a tartare from a supermarket or one that's packaged. I go to the butcher, pick my cut of meat, and have them grind it in front of me. Then I rush home, prepare it right away, and consume it within an hour or two.

Eating it out is also fun, usually in a brasserie. In the better establishment, the seasonings will be added in your presence, turning this traditional French food into a true gem.

It would seem that this delicacy originated among my own paternal ancestors, the Tatars of Central Asia. The wild hordes of the region rode on horseback, as you know, and to feed themselves during their travels, they may have placed a cut of salted meat, usually horse or camel, under their saddle for tenderising and to rid it of excess blood. At meal time, they would clean off the salt, grind the meat and eat it raw.

The "dish" slowly made its way westward through Russia into northern Germany, probably through the city of Hamburg, eventually reaching the shores of New York via immigration, to be known as Hamburg-style American fillet, or Hamburger Beefsteak. Sound familiar?

Yet its appearance as a France food is relatively recent, documented sporadically during the 19th century and firmly in the early years of the 20th.

At first it was known as American Steak, but the Steak Tartare appellation finally won over, used in France and also in the United States.

6. Black or blood pudding (Boudin noir: boo-dan NWAR) 

This is one of the relatively common French foods, eaten in France once the cooler weather comes around, often sautéed in butter with apples.

It is a delicious dish but granted, a round pile of black sausage isn't necessarily the most appetising dish in the world. Not to sugarcoat it, but it is basically blood, with the addition of other ingredients, ranging from spices to fruits to rice.

But oh, it has such history. The boudin noir is probably the oldest charcuterie, or delicatessen meat, in the world, and you'll find it mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. Hunting societies have always battled with the issue of blood and what to do with it.

If you're British, this dish should seem familiar to you, since it is a traditional British breakfast food for some, isn't it? Black pudding?

In fact, there's hardly a country in Europe that doesn't have some sort of blood sausage among its specialties. Blutwurst in Germany, anyone?

By the way, this shouldn't be confused with the boudin blanc, which is pale in colour and contains no blood, just meat and condiments.